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Award-Winning Software from NCH

The true test of a software program is how well it works for the people who install and use it. The number of people downloading and using NCH programs everyday (roughly 3 million downloads every month) suggests our focus on creating powerful, easy and intuitive software is working well for a lot of people out there. And while you have the final word on if a program is right for you, we still appreciate the feedback of reviewers recognizing the work that has gone into making our software programs both powerful and easy-to-use.

Here is a peek into our trophy case, and just a small sample of the award-winning software titles in the NCH Software collection:

WavePad Sound Editor

WavePad has long been praised by reviewers for its easy and powerful, yet lightweight interface for audio editing.

"In spite of its tiny size, WavePad packs a big audio punch."
- CNET

"WavePad has a lot to offer to the amateur audio editor, while still providing enough tools to make it a useful program for more seasoned audio editors."
- TopTenReviews

Switch Audio Converter

Switch is not only easy to use, it supports more audio formats than the competition, making it a clear winner.

"Switch is just as useful for professionals that need to convert many songs into multiple formats as it is for the average person who knows they want to convert an AAC file to MP3. Switch is able to handle many different audio formats and has the largest selection of output formats of any program we reviewed."
- TopTenReviews

VideoPad Video Editor

VideoPad has quickly become a major player in video editing with upgraded features, putting even more advanced options at your disposal.

"NCH Software's VideoPad Video Editor Professional is a full-featured video-editing tool that is surprisingly easy to use... It's a rare video editor that you can just fire up and start making movies with, but that's what we did with VideoPad."
- CNET

PhotoStage Slideshow Software

PhotoStage lets you bring your digital photos to life and make easy-to-share presentations of every memorable occasion.

"PhotoStage Slideshow Producer shows that slideshow makers don't need to be difficult to use to produce great results."
- CNET

"PhotoStage is intuitive and savvy photo slideshow software that enables you to assemble artistic, personalized picture slideshows with total ease."
- TopTenReviews

Zulu DJ Mixing Software

Zulu is the complete DJ software solution for both amateur and professional DJs alike.

"In an extremely competitive field of DJ software, Zulu stands just a bit taller than all of the rest. The intuitive and advanced features of this program, including a user-friendly, simple and straightforward interface, helped it rise to the top of our rankings."
- TopTenReviews

Inventoria Inventory Management

Inventoria allows businesses of all sizes to efficiently track all their inventory processes, whether for one small retail outlet, or a chain of stores and warehouses across several locations.

"The versatility of Inventoria is an excellent reason to purchase this product. It offers numerous helpful features such as the ability to add notes and photos to each item in your inventory. In addition, you have the opportunity to allow more users to access the program, which can increase productivity and ultimately enhance your bottom line."
- TopTenReviews

Check out the complete range of NCH Software programs for more easy-to-use and award-winning software solutions for all your software needs.

Retail Update: Hopping the pond to the UK

NCH Business Essentials Software now being sold in the UK

NCH Software continues to expand our presence in retail stores worldwide. Most recently, with the help of Channel Assist, you can now find several NCH Software products on the shelves of retailers like Dixons PC World in the United Kingdom. The UK is already one of our largest online markets, and we know that being in retail stores will only strengthen our presence there. Software titles available include Golden Records, Express Invoice and essential software suites of our audio software and business software products.

Slideshow Software Doesn’t Have to Be Difficult

As further proof that PhotoStage is the best slideshow software, we can now add a 5 star review from the editors at CNET to its accolades. We strive to make our software easy and intuitive and were thrilled to have the editors comment that "PhotoStage Slideshow Producer shows that slideshow makers don't need to be difficult to use to produce great results," and going on to say:

"We were pleasantly surprised to find that PhotoStage offers a narration feature that let us add our own music to our slideshow; you can even record your own voice, if you have a microphone. The Save step gave us numerous options for saving our newly created slideshow, including saving it as a Flash file, DVD movie, or a data disc, or we could save it to our hard drive or portable device. It took a few seconds to save, but in no time, we were able to play our newly created slideshow back. PhotoStage Slideshow Producer will appeal to users of all skill levels."

– CNET

You can read the complete review of PhotoStage Slideshow Software on download.com, or download it now to get started making your own slideshow presentations right away.

Debut Video Capture Software Award TopTenReviews

Debut Video Capture Software makes it possible for you to record or capture video from virtually any recording source. Rather than specializing in capturing video from a single source, Debut combines the recording capabilities of several programs, so whether you want to record streaming video, record from a networked IP camera, or connect your VHS player to your computer to digitize an old home movie, Debut is the only program you need.

The reviewers at TopTenReviews have agreed, awarding Debut the Silver award in their video capture software category, saying that they "were very impressed with how easy it was to use the interface and the tools available within Debut," going on to say:

"We were very impressed with the usability of Debut Video Capture Software and the well designed interface they created for their users, which is why it ranks as one of the top two products available. It also offers a number of recording tools and capturing abilities, and we found each tool easy to access and easy to use. We were pleased with the high quality results of the video captures as well as with the captured audio."

– TopTenReviews

You can read the complete review of Debut Video Capture Software on the TopTenReviews website. Or, see how easy it is to use firsthand by downloading this both powerful and easy video recording program to your PC or Mac today.

Telephony @ NCH

Axon Windows PBX and other NCH Telephony Software

Hi! My name is Dustin and I am the new lead developer for NCH Software’s Telephony products. Previously, I’ve been working on our company’s Utility products such as FileFort backup software, Verity child monitoring software and Orion file recovery software. I am excited about this new opportunity and I hope I can make our Telephony products even better!

One new feature coming soon to our Axon virtual PBX is the ability to access your web interface from any internet connection without the need for complicated router configuration. This is accomplished by connecting to an NCH Software server using a simple internet address like http://sampleaddress.users.nchuser.com which relays to your Axon server. Pages can even be viewed over a secure (HTTPS) connection to guarantee that transmitted information is safe. This feature is ad supported so there is no extra cost to you. You will still be able to view the web interface without ads the same way you always have but with this feature we hope Axon will be even easier to use remotely.

So be on the lookout for this new feature in Axon and more feature and usability improvements to come to our telephony software:

Localization Efforts Pay Off in NCH International Offerings

It has been about a year and a half since NCH Software put in place a localization initiative in order to offer our most popular software applications in French, German, Japanese and Spanish. The challenges have been many but we now provide numerous applications, including WavePad Sound Editor, VideoPad Video Editor, Prism Video Converter, and several more, in the 4 languages mentioned.

Working in cooperation with NCH developers, the localization specialists at NCH translate the general user interface (GUI), test functionality for country-specific appropriateness, suggest changes to implement to better adapt NCH applications to non-English speaking markets. They also translate a significant number of web-based material to make sure that French, German, Japanese or Spanish-speaking Internet users can find relevant information, download and purchase products securely in their own languages.

Bucking the current trend of outsourcing translation and localization and relying instead on "in-house" linguists allows NCH to leverage a valuable internal product knowledge and capitalize on direct interdepartmental relationships to produce more accurate translations, faster.

Please click on the language of your choice to find out more about NCH Software's localized software applications.

Mac Business Software

If you're a "Mac" and a business owner you've probably been excited to see us expanding our range of business software for the Mac with the recent Mac releases of Copper Point of Sale Software and Inventoria Inventory Management Software. Our business team has been busy porting our popular business software to the Mac so that businesses have more quality and economical software solutions available to them no matter which operating system they choose to use.

The really great news is that there is more to come. We are continuing to work on Mac versions of our business products that don't have them yet, so be sure to take a look at our full range of business software to see how you can design a system to best suit the needs of your business, and keep your eyes peeled for still more Mac programs in the future.

And for more advice on business software solutions that could help your business see:

Software For A Deserted Island

If you were on a deserted island what would you want to have with you? One technology writer in Missouri recently asked this question and his software catalog of choice was NCH Software. As you can imagine we were tickled pink to hear it. One of the things that quickly makes us a top runner is our wide range of software products with applications for business, dictation, transcription, utilities, music and more. Also, "unlike many publishers that charge high prices for all-in-one suites that do more than you probably need, NCH Software takes a modular approach, designing smaller apps that do specific tasks, usually for a lot less money. It’s simply a smarter way to work."

To read about some of Scott May's favorite NCH programs, see his complete article, NCH Software offers fantastic, affordable apps published in the June 28, 2011 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune. Then make NCH Software your first stop the next time you are looking for a software utility whether you are editing audio at home, or setting up a webcam broadcast of the view on your deserted island.

We are very grateful that the editors at CNET recently took the time to review NCH Software's KeyBlaze Typing Tutor Software. They wrote a very nice review and awarded our free learn to type software with a full 5 out of 5 stars, saying:

"KeyBlaze Free Typing Tutor from NCH Software can help you learn touch-typing or practice your skills. It offers basic lessons, drills, and speed tests suitable for typists ranging from absolute beginners to keyboard jockeys. It's easy to use and effective, too. KeyBlaze is great for beginners, and has more to offer to those who already know how to type. The lessons are easy to understand, getting progressively more difficult to master, and effective, with immediate feedback that helps users quickly overcome bad habits."

– CNET

You can read the complete review of KeyBlaze Typing Tutor on download.com, or download it now to start improving your typing skills right away.

From freelancers to lawyers, keeping track of the amount of time spent on different projects can be a necessary evil for many in the working world. So if you bill by the hour an easy-to-use program like HourGuard Timesheet Software to make this chore easier could be just what the doctor ordered. Reviewers at CNET have even called HourGuard among the best time-tracking programs available.

"We liked that HourGuard Timesheet Software lets you create base tasks and subtasks, making it easy to record what you're working on in detail. The program even has an intelligent tracking feature that stops the timer when it detects that you're no longer working, ensuring that you don't waste time making corrections after realizing that you've left the meter running."

– CNET

You can read the complete review or learn more and download your free copy of HourGuard timesheet recorder software from our website today.

More Software, More Languages

NCH Software localized Japanese audio software

In addition to the new products and new features and releases you have seen coming from NCH Software, you might not have noticed that our localized software of translated NCH favorites into other languages for users worldwide has also been expanding. Our translators have been busy working on releasing versions of our popular software programs in Spanish, French, German and now Japanese as well.

Going back to our roots in audio, the first releases in Japanese that are now available for download are Switch, Express Rip and MixPad, with more to follow. So you will now notice that from all of our home pages you can select Japanese (日本語). So if you are looking for software in another language or if you have friends or family in other countries who could benefit from our easy-to-use software utilities, be sure to spread the word. And if you want to receive updates on software releases in a a particular language you can sign up for our newsletter(s) at:

PhotoStage: The Best Slideshow Software

PhotoStage photo slideshow software is an excellent and easy way to take your photos and create stunning movies of your cherished memories and events. You don't have to take our word for it: TopTenReviews just awarded PhotoStage the Gold award, proclaiming it the best slideshow software. They describe PhotoStage Slideshow Producer as "intuitive and savvy photo slideshow software that enables you to assemble artistic, personalized picture slideshows with total ease," going on to say:

"PhotoStage really does an outstanding job of bridging the gap between ease of use and multifaceted functionality. The photo slideshow application delivers a well-supplied feature set that is easy to utilize, and we were able to create an entire slideshow without any difficulty. Furthermore, we loved how clean and sophisticated the user interface is; it seems more akin to a sleek graphic design tool than a basic slideshow maker. Such a seamless melding between ease of use and an advanced appearance and feature set makes the photo slideshow software a viable option for both casual and tech-savvy users."
– TopTenReviews

Read the complete review of PhotoStage slideshow software on the TopTenReviews website. Or download a copy of the software today and get started making photo slideshows right away. As TopTenReviews pointed out, the "easy drag-and-drop functionality make the software simple to use and it delivers high-definition output quality," so you won't regret having this application on hand for turning your digital photos into stunning movie slideshows to share with family and friends.

High Performance Document Conversion Software

4.5 Star CNet review for Doxillion document converter software

It is always nice to get compliments, and we love hearing from both customers and reviewers alike about what they think about our software programs. The editors at CNET recently gave us another compliment to add to our tally in a recent review of Doxillion document converter, saying, "We've tried many of NCH's tools and always found them to be good performers." Talking more specifically about Doxillion they went on to say:

"Doxillion is very easy to use, with a big green plus sign for adding files to the main list view. Highlighting entries in this list displayed their properties in the right-hand sidebar. We browsed to an output folder in the entry field beneath the main view, and then selected an output format and encoder options. All that was left to do was press Convert. Doxillion quickly processed our batch and saved the output to our selected directory."

– CNET

You can read the complete review of Doxillion document converter from CNET on download.com. The next time you need to convert type of file, whether a document, audio, video, or image file, be prepared with our suite of converting software, and make file incompatibility a thing of the past.

Archival-quality Audio from Vinyl with Golden Records

4.5 Star CNet review for Golden Records Vinyl to CD, LP digitizing software

Golden Records Vinyl to CD Converter is one of our more popular software programs, offering an easy step-by-step process for converting vinyl LP records and analog audio cassettes to CD or mp3 files. It seems the people at CNET agree, having recently given it high marks, saying, "We've tried many such tools, yet we've often gone back to [Golden Records], which also converts tapes and other analog audio sources." The reviewers went on to say:

"We transcribed several LP records ranging from audiophile quality to barely playable with Golden Records, achieving excellent, archival-quality results each time. The auto track splitter worked fine on scratchy old platters, though recording tracks in the highest possible quality and then splitting and converting them manually using a WAV editor proved the best method for better-quality discs. The sound files produced by Golden Records Vinyl to CD Converter sounded great, whatever the source."

– CNET

You can read the complete review of Golden Records Analog to CD/MP3 Converter from CNET on download.com. Or, download today to take advantage of the free 14-day trial and easy wizard based process to start digitizing your vinyl record collection.

Acclaim for VideoPad Video Editing Software

We are very grateful that the editors at CNet recently took the time to review NCH's VideoPad Video Editor. They wrote a very nice review and awarded it with 5 out of 5 stars, highlighting how easy VideoPad is in their comments, "It's a rare video editor that you can just fire up and start making movies with, but that's what we did with VideoPad." They went on to say:

"With smartphones, video sharing sites, and Webcams everywhere, there's no lack of raw video resources, just a need for a powerful, easy-to-use tool like VideoPad Video Editor Professional to put your projects together, polish them up, and present them in the format of your choice. More than just fast and competent, we also found it fun to use."

– CNet

You can read the complete review of VideoPad video editor on download.com, but the best way to really get a feel for how user-friendly and fun video editing can be, download VideoPad and try it out for yourself.

Invenetoria Inventory Software Award TopTenReviews

Any business that has an inventory, including retail stores large and small, distributors and manufacturers, can benefit from using inventory software. As TopTenReviews points out in their recent review of inventory software, Inventoria inventory management software can not only help better organize your business, but the added efficiency, tools and reports it gives you access to can help you improve your bottom line. With all that said, we are thrilled that Inventoria has earned the Silver Award for TopTenReviews’ newly added inventory software category.

"The versatility of Inventoria inventory management software is an excellent reason to purchase this product. It offers numerous helpful features such as the ability to add notes and photographs to each item in your inventory. In addition, you have the opportunity to allow more users to access your inventory management program, which can increase productivity and ultimately enhance your bottom line."

– TopTenReviews

You can read the complete review of Inventoria inventory software on the TopTenReviews website. Or, as is the case with all our software, download a free 14-day trial from our website to see firsthand what Inventoria can do for your business.

See How In Action

We have been working on expanding the number of video tutorials on NCH Software products. Since our post back in March we have added several more video software tutorials plus the series on to help you with some the programs that you might want to make available to others over the Internet. Be sure to check out these video tutorials, and let us know if you are itching for a tutorial on one product in particular so we can try to move it up in the queue.

So now in addition to the BroadWave, Golden Records and WavePad tutorials we previously announced, you can also find video tutorials on VideoPad, BroadCam, Troubleshooting server-based software applications and Setting up Web Access in Express Invoice.

These videos are part of our continuing effort to help users get our software up and running as quickly as possible. We hope that these videos will answer some of the common questions about basic functions, especially for people with a visual learning style. Stay in the know and see all of our tutorials by subscribing to the NCH Software YouTube Channel.

Don't Get Lost in Translation

NCH Software Localization for Deutsch, Español and Français

NCH Software Translation and Localization

One of the things that we are striving for with our software applications is to make them as easy to use and accessible to use as possible so that our customers can start using the programs and be up and running as quickly possible. We use the "3-minute rule" trying to make sure that you can install and start using NCH Software products in 3 minutes or less.

Another thing we have been busy with to make software even more accessible worldwide is translating our popular applications into Spanish, French and German, putting the powerful and intuitive audio editing tools of WavePad in the hands of audio enthusiasts across the globe.

If you've been to the NCH Software homepage recently, you may have noticed the addition of the language drop-menu option giving you the option to switch to Deutsch, Español or Français. In addition to those three we are gearing up to add Japanese, with a translated WavePad in Japanese coming soon, and more products to follow.

If you want to receive updates on our localized software you can sign-up for our newsletters at:

Raking in Awards for NCH Software Applications

The good folks over at TopTen Reviews have been busy and have recently added a few new reviews of some NCH Software favorites to their site. Most notably, they have added VideoPad video editor to their video editing line up, highlighting the extreme ease of use of this small but powerful movie making program.

"Learning to use VideoPad requires very little effort. Indeed, it’s intuitive enough that we were performing some basic functions before even taking a look at the user manual. Drag and drop technology is at the heart of the simplicity. All of the most fundamental processes, including moving clips from the media list to the video and audio tracks or rearranging split clips, can be accomplished in this manner. Other processes are simple too, generally requiring nothing more than clicking a button or selecting an option from a menu. Even adding transitions and effects is just a mouse click away."

– TopTenReviews video editing software review

Test drive our easy video editing software for yourself. We think you will agree with TopTenReviews and be amazed at how easy it is to make your own movies with VideoPad. To help get you started you can also check out our VideoPad video tutorial for a quick tour of the program and some of the features you can use when you are editing your first masterpiece.

VideoPad wasn't the only product to get recognized. Express Burn is polishing a new bronze for cd burning which is only one of the many features of the powerful disc burning software. And WavePad can now boast at having a gold, two silvers and a bronze award from TopTenReviews in different categories, with a new silver in mp3 editing and a bronze for voice recording.

WavePad Silver mp3 audio editing software award

"NCH Software is well-known for its broad range of super multimedia software. WavePad, their entry into the MP3 editing software category, has all the same looks of a quality NCH program. With WavePad, you can do everything you would possibly want to do with an audio file with their assortment of editing tools and effects."

– TopTenReviews MP3 editing software review

We design all of our software with the user in mind, and winning awards is just an added perk, but it is nice to be recognized for some of the things we strive for like ease of use. We hope you will agree with the reviewers at TopTenReviews and fall for our simple and award-winning software solutions.

The Lego Principle: How building from blocks, sets and platforms applies to software

Do you remember playing with Legos when you were a kid? I was thinking about my surplus of Legos the other day, and it got me thinking about software…

When I was a kid, I literally had tens-of-thousands of Lego blocks. It didn't start this way. I grew my collection from the first few space sets I could afford into a massive armada of ships and bases. With each set I added something new to the foundation of what I could already create with my current Lego supply.

Software developers do much the same thing, starting out with a few basic pieces. By learning and accumulating more interesting bits of code overtime, more designs and possibilities begin to emerge. Eventually developers collect a whole range of different building blocks that they can use and the number of possibilities skyrocket, which we refer to as exponential growth.

This phenomenon also occurs on a more local level at NCH Software. Our products are based upon blocks which can be built into a powerful conglomeration of tools. With so many software products, we often use blocks of code, or functions, from our library in multiple products and stack them together to add to the features.

One of the more banal examples of using these building blocks is in our dialog windows. Using the same code ensures that our software products will have a similar look and feel throughout. You wouldn’t want to build a castle with a mixture of Legos and Lincoln logs, would you? A more interesting example is our sound effect library, which is available in WavePad, VideoPad, and MixPad. Think of each of those applications as an already-constructed Lego spaceship, and the sound library is a fancy laser gun we’ve added to all three to make them that much more effective at what they do.

Yet another example is the weblet. In some programs, the weblet is where you go to run your business when you are away from home. In others, it’s where you configure the settings for your phone system, or where you test the video streams you are going to put on your website. The weblet is a foundation we lay down and build on top of to suit the needs of the individual program.

Lego has the right ideas – expandable and always interoperable. At NCH Software, we have the same ideas so that all of our products fit our users' needs. By making core features in our library, we gain a lot of dynamic power to make future products more robust, making our entire development team more powerful. And you can never have too much power.

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